Brother’s New INKvestment Printers Bet Against Ink Subscriptions

Brother is charging $279.99 and $359.99 for two new all in one printers that ship with enough ink to skip a subscription for months, maybe longer. The MFC-J5010DW and MFC-J5110DW target the same compact home offices that HP, Epson and Canon are all chasing right now, just with a different pitch attached to the price tag.

Every other major printer maker in 2026 is nudging buyers toward a monthly plan or a bottle of ink. Brother’s answer is simpler: buy the machine, keep the cartridges it comes with, and never open an account.

The MFC-J5010DW and MFC-J5110DW Land at $279.99 and $359.99

Brother International Corporation, the printer and imaging division of the Japanese electronics maker, announced the launch of its new INKvestment all-in-one printer series this month, aimed squarely at small businesses and home offices. Both machines print, scan, copy and fax, and both connect over WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet and USB, with cloud printing through Google Drive and Dropbox built in.

The entry model runs on Brother’s Maxidrive engine, printing up to 28 pages a minute in black and 26 in color, with a 250-sheet tray and a 50-page duplex document feeder. The step-up MFC-J5110DW adds a second paper tray, a 100-sheet multipurpose slot for envelopes and labels, and a larger 4.3 inch touchscreen in place of the smaller unit’s 2.7 inch display.

Both cartridge sets come installed at the factory, not sold separately as a starter kit you burn through in a week. That detail is the whole story.

What INKvestment Actually Buys You

• INKvestment – Brother’s name for the cartridges these printers ship with, built to hold far more ink than a typical starter cartridge so a new owner refills less often without signing up for anything.

Once those in-box cartridges run dry, Brother steers buyers toward its Genuine LC506 ink line built for the J5110DW, sold individually at retail like any other cartridge. There’s no chip that dies the moment a subscription lapses, because there’s no subscription tied to the hardware in the first place.

That is a real departure from where the rest of the printer industry has been pointing for two years running.

Cancel HP’s Subscription and the Cartridges Stop Working

HP’s Instant Ink program remains the industry’s dominant ink subscription, and HP Inc. still leads the broader printer market by a wide margin. HP held over 39.7% share of the global ink cartridge printer market in 2025, according to Global Market Insights, with the top five brands, HP, Epson, Canon, Brother and Videojet, controlling roughly 73% of it between them. Instant Ink’s pitch is convenience: sign up, and cartridges ship before the printer runs dry.

The cost of that convenience shows up the moment a customer walks away. HP spells it out in its own terms for the service.

If you cancel Instant Ink on your printer, the HP Instant Ink subscription cartridges provided with your subscription will stop working in your printer even if they are not empty.

That is HP’s own language, published on its Instant Ink enrollment page. Cancel, and the cartridge in the tray goes dead regardless of how much ink is left inside it. Brother’s own Refresh EZ Print subscription, which is a separate opt-in product from the INKvestment printers themselves, works on a similar logic. Either way, the new MFC-J5010DW and MFC-J5110DW simply are not built around that mechanic at all.

Epson’s Tanks Are Winning the Long Game

Subscriptions are not the only pressure on Brother’s cartridge bet. Refillable ink tank printers, led by Epson’s EcoTank line, have been eating into cartridge sales for years by replacing the cartridge entirely with a bottle. The global supertank printer market was worth $11.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $19.7 billion by 2033, a 7.2% annual growth rate, per Grand View Research. North America alone accounted for more than a third of that market last year.

Brother is not ignoring that trend, it is just not betting the new $279.99 and $359.99 launch on it. The company runs a separate INKvestment Tank line, and Grand View Research notes Brother added Tank models to that lineup as recently as September 2025. The cartridge-based INKvestment printers reviewed here sell alongside that tank lineup rather than instead of it.

Cartridges are not shrinking either, even as tanks grow faster. Global Market Insights puts the broader ink cartridge printer market at $20.6 billion in 2025, climbing to $21.3 billion in 2026 and an estimated $33.8 billion by 2035. Analysts at IndexBox separately expect the ink tank category to grow around 4.8% a year through 2035, with home offices making up roughly 35% of that demand, meaning Brother is fighting for the same buyer from two different product lines at once.

Three Ways Printer Makers Now Charge for Ink

• Ownership: Brother’s cartridge-based INKvestment printers ship with high-capacity ink already installed, and replacements get bought at retail with no account required.
• Subscription: HP Instant Ink and Brother’s own Refresh EZ Print plans charge a flat monthly fee for a page allotment, and the cartridges shipped under that plan are tied to the active account.
• Refillable tanks: Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank and Brother’s separate INKvestment Tank models swap cartridges for bottled ink, driving cost per page down over years of heavy use.

Brother, notably, has a foot in all three camps. This particular launch just picks a side for its cheapest new hardware.

Who Is Brother Actually Betting Will Buy This?

Brother is targeting hybrid and home based workers who want business-grade output without a bulky office machine or a recurring bill. The MFC-J5010DW and MFC-J5110DW are pitched as compact enough for a home desk but capable enough for the paperwork of a small business, right down to the fax line most home printers dropped years ago.

That buyer has been shrinking desk space for years, cramming a laptop, a monitor and a printer into the same corner of an apartment or spare bedroom. A printer that does not ask for a credit card on file, and that already has close to two thousand pages of black ink loaded before the first print job, solves a specific kind of friction for that exact person. Whether it beats Epson’s bottles on price over three years is a separate question. On day one, it is simpler, and simpler is the whole sales pitch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the new Brother INKvestment printers require a subscription?

No. The MFC-J5010DW and MFC-J5110DW work with standard purchased ink cartridges out of the box. Brother’s separate Refresh EZ Print subscription is available as an opt-in add-on with plans that have historically started around $3.49 a month, but nothing about the hardware requires enrolling.

What ink cartridges do these printers use?

Brother recommends its Genuine LC506 ink cartridges for the J5110DW, a different cartridge family from the LC3029 and LC3033 series used in Brother’s separate INKvestment Tank models, so buyers should check the exact cartridge code before ordering replacements.

How is INKvestment different from INKvestment Tank?

INKvestment is Brother’s cartridge-based system, where high-yield cartridges ship inside the printer and get repurchased at retail. INKvestment Tank is a separate, refillable-ink product line Brother sells alongside it, closer in concept to Epson’s EcoTank.

Can these printers print from a phone or tablet?

Yes. Both models pair with the Brother Mobile Connect app for wireless setup and mobile printing, and both support cloud printing and scanning through services like Google Drive and Dropbox in addition to direct WiFi and WiFi Direct connections.

Where can I buy the new Brother INKvestment printers?

The MFC-J5010DW and MFC-J5110DW are listed at $279.99 and $359.99 respectively through Amazon and other authorized Brother retailers in North America.